Near to the Dark
by Archica
Summary: Horror fic. Ghastly secrets haunt the halls of Hogwarts during seventh year. Will eventually be DracoHermione.


Notes: First and foremost, be aware that the following explanatory notes about my fic **will contain spoilers for the sixth book**! If you read past this paragraph and spoil yourself, well, it's your own fault. Don't come whining to me about how I ruined the book for you. 

That being said, this story takes place at Hogwarts during the seventh year. For the sake of convenience, let's just say that Harry tracked down and killed Voldemort over the summer, Snape was revealed to be a good guy and was hired back on at Hogwarts, and everyone moved on quite happily with their lives. Just another year at school, except no Dumbledore. Time for another threat to pop up. 

This story will focus on horror and dark themes. If you don't like that, you might not want to read. It will also become a Draco/Hermione fic as the story progresses. Probably have some Harry/Ginny thrown in as well, though I make no guarantees. If you don't like that, again, you might want to seek out fanfiction elsewhere. 

Thanks for reading! 

Chapter One: 

_I answer to the fading voices trolling the night roads._

Her footsteps were quiet, for the most part. There was a low, hollow sound to them as they made their way down the corridor, up one flight of stairs, and down another hallway. The common room was just up ahead, on the right. But there were plenty of branching pathways, shortcuts, corners, and narrow halls that lead to unknown places. Years at Hogwarts had not revealed all its secrets, not to Hermione Granger, and not to anyone else. 

One such branching path, just to the left of the entrance to the common room, caught Hermione's attention as she walked by. Bathed in the light of the full moon and yet surrounded by shadows, the outline of a dark figure became visible. Hermione stopped, squinting in the darkness. "Who's there?" she asked loudly. 

No answer came, and the figure turned, to face her or to turn away from her, she could not tell. She sighed, shifting her books into one arm and fumbling around in her robes for her wand. Being Head Girl had its advantages, but it also had certain responsibilities. She had to be a role model to the younger students, to enforce a certain order in the students of her house. 

"You know, it'd be much easier if you'd just answer me and step out into the light..." she muttered, finally pulling out her wand. She held it up and said "Lumos!" 

In the eerie, yellow-tinged light of her wand, the figure became clear. What first struck Hermione was that the figure was indeed facing her, and rather boldly at that. It did not fear her, had no concern for her authority. In fact, as far as she could tell, it was not human. Seemingly male, it was tall and impossibly thin, with pale white skin that stretched tightly over the bare torso and shadow-drenched face. Strands of straight black hair fell to the jaw-line. Dark, empty, soulless eyes gazed at her, and blue-tinted lips slowly curled into something resembling a very horrible smile. 

Hermione was frozen, an inescapable terror creeping up her spine. And as suddenly as the ghastly creature took one step toward her, it disappeared completely. 

Her wand was shaking in her hand as she quietly climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. It was empty and silent, but well-lit from the roaring fireplace. She dropped her books beside the nearest chair and sank into it, rubbing her forehead. She wondered if endless hours of late-night studying in the library had resulted in some nasty hallucinations. The creature in the hall did not look like a ghost, for it was clearly solid, but then it was obviously not a normal, live human. Maybe a rare species she hadn't heard of? 

She shook her head and stood up, deciding that it had been her imagination and nothing more. After all, it had disappeared in the blink of an eye. Whatever it was, it was gone. 

Sleep came to her slowly and begrudgingly. She spent the night in a cold sweat, haunted by nightmares that left her confused and nervous. Blood splattered across walls, a golden full moon, pale faces, dark eyes, and words that formed not only a sentence, but a command. _ Tell me about the sun. _

Hermione was drowsy and lethargic the next day as she moved from class to class, desperate to rid her mind of the nightmares and whatever she saw the night before. It was lunchtime when she finally nodded off, leaning her head on the table beside her shoved-aside plate. 

Ron and Harry had sat down beside her minutes before, and they looked at each other in a mixture of surprise and amusement when they realized she was asleep. Ron tapped her shoulder, and she jolted up rather quickly. 

"What is it?" she asked sharply. 

Ron grinned at her. "You were snoring." 

Hermione flushed slightly in annoyance. "I was not," she said offhandedly, checking her watch to make sure she wasn't already late for her next class and sighing when she was sure she had plenty of time left. 

"Are you alright?" Harry asked her. 

She nodded quickly. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night." 

"Nightmares?" Ron asked between bites of lunch. 

She nodded again. "And last night... in the hallway by the entrance to the common room..." 

She cut off when she noticed that both Ron and Harry were glaring at something behind her. She turned around to see Malfoy walking by with a group of Slytherins. "Oh," she simply said, looking back to her neglected plate. 

"I can't believe they let him come back, after all that happened!" Ron said, no longer interested in his meal. 

Harry pointedly said nothing, but he looked as though he couldn't decide whether to feel disgusted or feel pity. 

Hermione poked aimlessly at her food with her fork. "It's not a huge deal, you know. He didn't actually carry out his plan, did he? Well, most of it. And there were so many conditions to his return that he'll _have_ to behave this time." 

Ron made a distinctively unhappy grunt as he forced his eyes back to his friends. "So what were you saying? About last night?" 

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but the large clock in the great hall chimed loudly, and students began shuffling from the tables. She gathered her books in her arms as the plates disappeared. "I'll tell you tonight, after classes." 

She walked out of the great hall, through a few corridors and toward her Runes lesson. The halls were quiet, with very few students as quick as Hermione to leave lunch, much less head straight to class without so much as a stop in their respective common rooms or to chat with their friends. 

And so it was no surprise that she happened upon a couple of unsuspecting teachers who were involved in a hushed yet intense conversation. 

"It's happening, and denying it will do nothing to improve the situation," she heard Snape say in a low but deliberate voice. 

"But after all that's happened," Headmistress McGonagall said, "I just can't bear to cause the students to worry again." 

"Would you rather they discover it on their own? What happens when we turn a corner one day and find one of them splattered across the walls?" Snape's voice was a bit higher at this point, and obviously upset. 

Hermione was standing just around the corner from them, perfectly still and clutching her books tightly against her chest, trying to keep her breathing even. She felt a little guilty, as if she had walked in on someone planning a surprise party for her, but then, this was something very important, something dangerous. She wondered if it had anything to do with what she had seen the night before, and if she should mention it to the professors. 

But before Hermione could make a decision, a couple of giggling third year girls walked by her and came into sight of Snape of McGonagall, who stopped talking instantly and parted ways. 

Runes class was particularly boring for her, as her mind continued to drift to the previous night and to the conversation she had overheard. Thankfully, it did not seem to last long before the clock chimed and people began to leave the room. Hermione was one of the first into the hall, and she quickly darted off to the library. 

She tossed her books onto the first table she came to and rushed over to the "Mystical Creatures" section, pulling out several large books and carrying them back to her seat. She flipped through page after page of pictures and large blocks of text, hoping to find something, anything, that resembled what she had seen. 

After thoroughly going over seven different books, Hermione sighed and returned them to the shelves, deciding that she would continue her search the next day. After all, nightfall had come and she had no desire to be roaming the halls alone after hours, not after last night. 

She left the library in a hurry, climbing stairs and practically jogging down corridors. She had her wand in her hand, just in case. And again, she was right next to the entrance to the common room when she saw, in the corner of her eye, a darkened figure in the hall. Her heart began pounding loudly as she dropped her books immediately and pointed her wand at the figure, shouting "Lumos!" 

But to her great relief, it was not the terrible creature she had seen before, but her classmate and friend, Neville. She exhaled deeply and lowered her wand. "Oh, Neville, you scared me." 

She bent down to gather her books together. They had scattered rather wildly across the floor when she dropped them so suddenly. "It's getting late, you should probably go on into the common room. Don't repeat this to anyone, but I think there's something strange going on in the school. In fact... last night I..." 

She stopped talking. It suddenly dawned on her that Neville hadn't spoken to her and had not even moved. It was uncharacteristic of him to simply watch as she picked up her books without offering to help. She slowly stood up without her books and raised her wand again. "Neville? Are you alright?" 

And there they were again, those dark, empty eyes. But they somehow looked even more horrifying on her friend. He took a step toward her, his body slouching in an eerily unnatural way. His mouth was gaped open, and a tiny trickle of drool appeared at the corner of his mouth. 

Hermione backed up. "Neville! What happened to you!" 

He was now inches in front of her, and he lifted his hands to grip her shoulders. He looked her in the face, and his mouth began to move. "Tell me..." he said, in a voice that was very much not his own and completely unlike anything she had heard before, "about..." 

Before another word was said, the dark eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed onto the floor. Hermione crouched beside him, rolling him over onto his back. "Neville! Neville! Answer me!" 

Hermione started to stand up, to head for the nearby common room to get help, but Neville opened his eyes. They were normal, much to Hermione's relief, and seemed very confused. He sat up, and quickly rubbed his forehead, grimacing in pain. "Oh, my head..." he mumbled. 

Hermione helped him up. "What happened?" she asked, walking with him to the common room. 

He looked at her curiously. "What do you mean? I was just walking down the hall and suddenly woke up on the floor." 

She stopped. "You mean you don't remember anything?" 

"No, why? What happened?" 

She debated for a moment, then said "It was nothing. You fainted just as I walked by." 

Neville seemed satisfied with this answer, though still slightly confused. Whatever had happened, Hermione was glad to be at the portrait hole. She watched Neville climb in, then turned to look back at the hallway. Though she saw nothing, a voice inside her head whispered a demand. _Tell me about the sun._

Author's Notes: Oooh. Chapter two coming up soon. The italicized line at the beginning of the chapter (in case anyone is interested), comes from the song "Forces" from the anime series "Berserk" (lovely song, really). 


End file.
